University of Wisconsin-Madison biologist Michael Sussman and his colleagues are struggling to understand these organisms, with the goal of using their designs in nanomanufacturing - producing sensors, drug delivery systems and computer chips.

These algae "make intricate designs with nano-sized features. We believe they are genetically controlled," said Sussman, a professor of biochemistry and director of the UW's Biotechnology Center. "What we are hoping is that we can genetically manipulate these designs to make patterns that we want to make rather than what the diatoms want to make."